“Farmers who own any of the 214 cows slaughtered so far in the latest foot-and-mouth outbreak will be able to claim compensation but other businesses that have been indirectly damaged are in a much harder legal position.”

“The decision to slaughter a Hindu community’s temple bullock as part of a general government policy after testing positive for bovine tuberculosis was lawful and justified and was not a breach of article 9 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Though the decision interfered with the community’s right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion the interference was necessary and proportionate given the importance of eliminating bovine tuberculosis and the fact that the slaughter policy implemented Council Directive 77/391/EEC.”

“It is cats that are supposed to have nine lives, but Shambo enjoyed more than the average bullock. The six-year-old Friesian was supposed to be slaughtered in May after he was exposed to bovine TB, only to be spared when his Hindu keepers argued he was sacred.”